The love of glass is in Christina Henzel's blood , and from her first illicit visit to her father's glasshouse , dressed in her brother's clothes , she is captivated by the cavernous furnace , smouldering blood - red shadows and the glistening , sinuous beauty of the glass . When her father dies , Christina inherits Henzel's Glassworks and is determined to run it herself - in the face of fierce and bitter opposition from her family and society . But though she wins her spirited fight for control of the business , Christina loses her heart .